So I've been playing this, and I have much to say.
Firstly, I'm playing on DS, so I don't know how that experience may differ from the consoles. I'm guessing there are some options included on the big boys that this little guy doesn't have, but that could be completely wrong.
Anyway, I'll just start things off by saying that yes, the game is awesome, and yes, it plays great on DS. I was very skeptical, so I used Julia's R4 card to, er... preview the game before purchase, but before I'd even gotten quite to the end of my first game, I went out the next day to buy my official copy.
Now, I'm coming at this as a Civ vet, and I imagine vets are going to fall into two camps: love it or hate it. This is completely Civ, and yet totally not. It streamlines the gameplay and drops off a lot of elements that make the game so varied and deep, but at the same time a lot of the stuff it drops *isn't* the stuff that's truly fun about Civ. In other words, there's less management stuff and crap to keep track of, more deciding what to build and moving units on the map. You won't be sitting around looking at informational screens, you won't be trying to figure out where every last dollar of your revenue is going, and you won't be trying to dig yourself out of a sinkhole. At no point in my play thus far have I ever actually found myself losing money or spending too much revenue on the upkeep of military units, because that's no longer the point. Now building up a shit-ton of units simply costs you the other buildings you could be constructing, which would net you much faster and more obvious benefits than in the other games. So a prolonged military campaign could really hurt you culturally if you haven't gotten some culture-reaping buildings constructed before you embark on your conquest.
This actually matters, of course, because the game moves faster and is much shorter. You'll be playing games that can certainly last a good number of hours, but not on the scale you're used to in a full-fledged Civ. This is due in part to the fact that you can't select map size and can't select the numbers of civs to play with. You've got a somewhat medium-sized map and you'll always play against 4 other civs. Always. I don't know if this is something to do with the DS version strictly, or if it's that way with the bigger consoles too.
Now, this kind of sucks because I love to play around with settings and get different types of games where different strategies come into play, but this is a much more focused experience that revolves around conflict. You're forced into conflict more quickly because it usually isn't very long before you run into another civ or two, and peaceful relations are inevitably going to break down sooner or later, which means it's time to put up your dukes. However, the game is actually very interesting to me in the sense that a cultural victory is much more viable this time around (at least compared to Civ III... you must remember I still haven't picked up Civ IV), because your culture can expand pretty quick now, and you can watch it swallow your opponent's cities in a relatively small series of turns. It isn't instant, and there are ways to counteract it of course, but since the game moves faster it's easier to pay attention to it and see the way it ebbs and flows.
So I've talked about speed, but so far I'll say this: it doesn't feel fast. I don't feel rushed and the game still feels completely Civ to me. I think this is because it's mostly removed things that were "gaps" of sorts in the gameplay, stuff that was either boring or just passive. I definitely miss some of the passive stuff when I think about it, but since the game keeps you busy there isn't a lot of "Oh, I wish I could do <whatever>", and since more passive victories seem to be a more reliable and naturally "aggressive" option here, it's easier for me to enjoy my snobby cultural supremacy and see tangible results without waiting around for years.
Anyway, all this to say that while it's different, it still really feels like Civ, and it hasn't lost any of the essence of what the games are about. It changes how they move a little, but not drastically so since most of the stuff it dropped was stuff that's easier to ignore in the first place, and while it changes the scope of things by giving you less options for customizable games, it's big enough to feel meaty, lengthy, and globally tactical... just not big enough to feel epic. Too, the scenarios matter more here than they ever did in the PC version, and I think they're especially at home on the DS. I doubt I'll play a lot of them myself, but they make sense since they're almost like smaller tactical puzzles, and generally a lot shorter.
All in all, I knew this was a winner when I stayed up way too late playing it, saying "Just one more turn" over and over. Hardcore purists will be put off, but those who simply don't mind another take on the games will find that this is very true to the spirit, and even if it doesn't feel so hot on a console, feels just perfect on the DS. If you ever wanted Civ on the go, I can guarantee you that this is more what you'd want rather than a full-fledged, numbered sequel. The lack of customization is a letdown, but I've played a bunch of games and it stops bothering me almost the second I start playing, so while I sincerely hope they address the problem in Civilization Revolution II, if such a thing ever comes to pass, I'll only waste time crying about it if the sequel doesn't address it (after all, the game is going to need to be bigger and better somehow). The interface is slightly picky too, but on the whole the touchscreen works beautifully and controls the game very well. Even better, you can use buttons if you want to ditch the stylus for a while, and you can perform almost every single function in the game using one method or the other. I think there may be a couple things you need buttons for if using the stylus, but that may be limited to like... accessing the menu and another thing or two, and I'm 95% sure that you can perform every single function *without* touching the stylus if you want standard controls, all of which are nicely labeled as you go.
So I can't speak for the other versions, but the DS version is extremely surprising. If you have even the slightest interest, give it a shot. If you always hated Civ it may not change your mind (though it certainly could, depending on what it was you didn't like), and not every series vet is guaranteed to love it, but chances are very good on either side that you'll find something to sink your teeth into.
